D&D 5E Roll20 vs Fantasy Grounds

Dax Doomslayer

Adventurer
Thanks again for the replies folks - it really is appreciated. For Fantasy Grounds, how does the Unity 'upgrade' fit into this? It seems like this will cost additional money if I buy right now to upgrade to it. Is there any ETA on this?
 

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Hey, Dax, the Unity upgrade is currently in development with no ETA. There has only been talk, nothing official about the upgrade cost to the Unity version. A few ideas have surfaced but nothing official. My understanding is that it will be minimal, not the full cost of the license. Again, nothing official and that's just my feelings.

My recommendation is if you want to purchase Fantasy Grounds then do so, don't worry about Unity because there is no ETA, it could be next year even. Definitely not next month.
 

Dax Doomslayer

Adventurer
Yeah I think waiting for that shoe to drop doesn't make sense. That said, I've heard there are some fairly large issues with the porting with routers on this. Is that overblown or is it a real issue? Thanks again for all your help!
 

Yeah I think waiting for that shoe to drop doesn't make sense. That said, I've heard there are some fairly large issues with the porting with routers on this. Is that overblown or is it a real issue? Thanks again for all your help!
I haven't had any issues. I just have to open port 1802 on my router and I'm good to DM. As a player I don't have to do anything.

Problems seem to occur on university networks or hotel room networks and things like that, not as much on home networks. There is an app, Hamachi, that helps overcome all these issues but then everyone in the group needs to connect with it. The software is free I believe but I've never used it myself.
 

Bupp

Adventurer
Not to derail the OP here, but I have a question that is a bit out of left field for the VTT, but was wondering...

I have a friend who wants me to run a game for him. We have totally different schedules, and were going to do a play by post type game. He'd probably be playing a couple characters as well. Could something be set up with either to set some sections up and let the automation take over? Like I could place an encounter and he could battle with the monsters without me being on?

Like I said, left field stuff.

If not a VTT, is there a play by post system out there? We've done it before, but ran it in Google Docs as a shared document that both could edit.
 

Not to derail the OP here, but I have a question that is a bit out of left field for the VTT, but was wondering...

I have a friend who wants me to run a game for him. We have totally different schedules, and were going to do a play by post type game. He'd probably be playing a couple characters as well. Could something be set up with either to set some sections up and let the automation take over? Like I could place an encounter and he could battle with the monsters without me being on?

Like I said, left field stuff.

If not a VTT, is there a play by post system out there? We've done it before, but ran it in Google Docs as a shared document that both could edit.
I have never done PBP but Fantasy Grounds is likely not the tool for you from what I understand. The DM has to leave their computer up and running. You could probably make it work but it's not what it was designed for and might not be worth the money. But what do I know as I've never played like that.

Happy gaming!
 

Yeah I think waiting for that shoe to drop doesn't make sense. That said, I've heard there are some fairly large issues with the porting with routers on this. Is that overblown or is it a real issue? Thanks again for all your help!

This does happen. To some fraction of 1% of the DMs trying to host. It truly is pretty rare, but it is an issue. That said, I don't think I've heard of anyone who actually ends up not being able to get this resolved through one of the (sometimes less than ideal) solutions. Including the VPN/Hamachi solution.

Note that it is only an issue for DM's, and only in a few situations where there are firewall or ISP non-support of IPv4.

Whether it will affect you is fairly easy to test by installing the demo. And the community is very helpful (including web sessions) to help resolve.
 

Not to derail the OP here, but I have a question that is a bit out of left field for the VTT, but was wondering...

I have a friend who wants me to run a game for him. We have totally different schedules, and were going to do a play by post type game. He'd probably be playing a couple characters as well. Could something be set up with either to set some sections up and let the automation take over? Like I could place an encounter and he could battle with the monsters without me being on?

Like I said, left field stuff.

If not a VTT, is there a play by post system out there? We've done it before, but ran it in Google Docs as a shared document that both could edit.

Nothing I know of that will run the combat for him while the DM is offline. Their is a play by post community at www.rondaksportal.com that many years ago I was involved in. Great place, but haven't used them in years.
 

Sounds like the OP has most of what he needs to know. Thought I would add a reply I sent ot a friend a couple of weeks ago while he was doing the same research as you. Here's a slightly edited version of what I sent him.
On pricing; many comments on prices are misleading. If you want a perpetual license (which I recommend) it is normally $40 , and rather than each person getting a license, only the GM needs an ultimate license, $150, which lets you have as many free/demo licenses as you want. But, you can't hand off the DM roll if you do this. So, you probably don't ever need to spend $200 on just the s/w, though it is possible to have a use case for such. Prices for modules and add on are the same price as if you bought the hard/print versions. So I don't see that be any type of additional cost. i.e. no matter what format or VTT you use, the cost for a module or an add-on like Volo's Guide to Monsters is the same. Plus, I find the FG version so much more capable as a reference source (links, drag and drop, etc).

Now, Roll 20 also is licensed, and has been for some months, but they only have a small set of the WotC content available for purchase. Though that's always changing, and maybe they are releasing more of it now, but last I checked they only had 3 of the products. Also, Roll 20 really isn't free. Not if you want anything close to comparable functions.

There is a comparison chart that is ok if you understand the nuances. Third party chart here: http://battlegroundsgames.com/vtt-comparison-chart/
FG's comparison chart here: http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/entry.php?178-VTT-Comparison

So, there were 3 reasons I chose FG over all the others when I started in about 18 months ago:
1) The FG community. It's incredibly (by far) the most active and pleasant community on the web I've ever been a part of. I've heard talk from others that the Roll20 community is either great, or if you express a dissenting opinion or mention a competitor your post will be deleted and eventually you will be banned. Don't know if that's true, but have heard it from at least 3 people who say they were banned for things like asking about competitors or complaining about support. Also, FG support is great, and they basically have a money back guarantee. See;http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ons-replaced-with-30-day-money-back-guarantee
2) Official WotC content. At the time, they were the only ones who had it.
3) Architecture. Roll20 is SaaS. FG is local client. If either company goes out of business, what happens to all your data? With FG, It's all on my computer. And with the exception of a license check when a free player tries to connect to an ultimate license, you don't need internet connectivity. With Roll20, you lose it all. Something like this already happened a month or two ago with Roll20. Their jukebox function was done through an API with Syrinscape (?) and Syrinscape pulled the plug on them. If the R20 admins knew it was coming, the users never did. They have since replaced it somehow, but I'm not sure how it compares and what people with sound libraries had to do and if they could even recover their sounds.

Automation and s/w capabilities. Though FG does not have dynamic line of sight (which is a paid function on Roll20), it has a great deal of things that make it really easy to play and to create campaigns. Though I admit the UI has lots of idiosyncrasies, it is very powerful, and I didn't find it too hard to get used to or to learn.

A few technical things; FG has a very active set of user developers (since it's almost all open, written in XML and LUA). Linked sounds (which is basically the same as R20's jukebox) are a function done by a community extension (he actually works contract for FG on occasion, so you know he's trusted) Fog of war is included, but it's a basic masking and unmasking of the images. Their have been technology demos both from FG and the community on a dynamic line of sight, but its not expected in this version of FG. FG has a Unity version that has been in development for a few years. Though the company makes no promises when, and says buy the s/w for what it is now, the FG Unity version is expected sometime in 2017.

Connectivity can be a hassle in a few cases. This is because of the local host architecture and the use of IPv4 protocols. Worse case it requires the use of a vpn (Hamachi or private vpn server, which costs about $15/yr and one of the community developers has a document with step-by-step instruction on how to set one up).

Also you can see my review of it from November 2015; http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?386930-Fantasy-Grounds/page6&p=6750807#post6750807
 

SkidAce

Legend
Supporter
I like the simplicity of Roll20.

It allows us to connect from across the country, and from that point on, its similar to playing in the same room.

It provides a map space, and we use some automated character sheet macros fro basic attacks, healing potions and such. Other than that we just describe what we do and use the die roller function.
And the init tracker.


We LIKE the simplicity of the interface, and my prep time is almost identical to the tabletop. So its cool.
 

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